It’s that time of year again. The Involvement Fair brought together people from different years with different interests in the Quad on Thursday.
SRU’s clubs and organizations gathered to spread awareness, provide club-related freebies and possibly gain new members. Most decorated tri-fold boards with information about their club. WSRU-FM provided music and the JamRock hip-hop dance team put on a performance for attendees.
Several organizations were brand-new or still rebuilding after the COVID-19 pandemic. Others, like the University Program Board (UPB), have existed at SRU for over 30 years. Clubs ranged from being major-oriented, religion-related or just for fun.
The Involvement Fair has become a staple of each semester, providing an opportunity for all students to get involved on campus. The fair seems to help students join some organizations, but for others, that is not so much the case.
The Rocket conducted a survey involving students that were at this year’s Involvement Fair.
Out of 40 students surveyed, 23 said yes, they had joined a club directly through the Involvement Fair, and 14 said no. Students who said yes may have joined only one club or as many as six or eight.
Three more, all freshmen, said “maybe” or “N/A”. Half of the “no”s also came from freshmen.
To create a club at SRU, students must have ten members, a constitution, an executive board and an advisor. Over 160 organizations have been registered, and there are new ones every year. A few tables were dedicated to organizations that were not yet officially registered.
Monica Yost of Chalk Talk, a social justice initiative, explained her drive to give back to the town of Slippery Rock.
“SRU may not be our home, but it’s still our community, even for a semester at a time,” Yost said. “The students have access to so many resources from the university, more than they realize sometimes. The community doesn’t. So now it’s our turn to give back. If the community suffers, so does the university.”
